Best Vermont specialty food

Cabot Creamery

The cheese section of a Vermont grocery store is a blissful place. One reason? Cabot cheddar cheese. The winner of numerous international awards, Cabot started out nearly a century ago as a small Vermont dairy co-op that made butter, not cheese. But in 1930 the farmers decided to branch out and hire a cheese maker. Since that fateful day, the co-op has grown, and now its steady cheddar production helps support the state’s dairy community. It doesn’t hurt that the cheddar is flavorful, aromatic and, sometimes, mouth-puckeringly sharp. As long as Cabot is around, turkey sandwiches across America won’t lack for the tang provided by two-year-aged cheddar. With a picture of Vermont in its logo, Cabot remains a Green Mountain classic.

- Haylley Johnson

(Sorry, no information is currently available for other years in this same award category.)